Food-related illnesses

Mead PS, Slutsker L, Dietz V, McCaig LF, Bre-see JS, Shapiro C, Griffin PM, Tauxe RV Food-related illness and death in the United States. Emerg Infect Dis 1999 5 607-625. 

The best investigated odor-taste interactions occur in conditioned flavor aversions. Tastes that precede a delayed food-related illness are often avoided after only one experience. Odors are not avoided under similar conditions. However, if taste and odor are presented together before the malaise, animals will avoid odor when encountered later by itself. Taste affects odor, but not vice versa. If only the taste intensity is increased, both taste and odor aversion increase. Conversely, if only the odor stimulus is increased, only the odor aversion increases (Garcia etal, 1986). 

Mead Paul, S., Slutsker, L., Dietz, V., McCaig, L. F., Bresee, J. S., Shapiro, C., Griffin, P. M. and Tauxe, R. V. 2000. Food-related illness and death in the united states. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 

Without bacteria In food there would be no yogurt, no blue cheese, and no sourdough bread. However, other bacteria left to grow unchecked can cause spoilage and even food-related Illness. Making sure that this does not happen is the job of producers, workers, supervisors, and quality control specialists from farm to food counter, and finally to the consumer. Despite some concerns and scares from time to time, America s cornucopia of foods remains the envy of the world, both in quantity and quality. 

Many people do not eat sufficient quantities of fruits and vegetables. Professional food and cancer associations are alarmed because of the increasing rates of nutrition-related illnesses and recommend diets rich in fruits and vegetables. Epi-... 

However, quantitative surveys comparing the incidences of foodbome diseases and/or mycotoxin related illnesses between consumers of organic and conventional food are currently not available. This makes it difficult to compare the relative risks associated with different organic and conventional production systems. 

According to Smith (88), food products are prone to accidental and deliberate abuse. Contamination can occur at any point from the raw material to finished product upon consumption. Public concern related to food borne illness is growing and rapid detection of these pathogens and contaminants is important for food safety. 

The first known court case involving GHB use occurred in May 1990, after a teenager in Duluth, Georgia, drank a mixture of water and two teaspoons of Somatomax PM obtained from a health food store. Within 20 minutes, the teen was in a coma his parents took him to the hospital for emergency treatment, where he recovered. Hospital physicians told the parents that if their son had been found a half hour later, he might have died. When the parents reported the incident to the FDA, the agency launched an investigation that uncovered 57 more cases of GHB-related illness and prompted wide-scale prosecution of GHB sale and misuse. 

Since the late 1800s when shellfish-related illnesses were first reported in the United States, there have been more than 400 epidemics of food-borne diseases and more than 14,000 gastroenteritis cases related to consumption of contaminated molluscan shellfish (Rippey, 1994). New York and Florida accounted for more than 50% of these epidemics (Rippey, 1994). In New York alone from 1980 to 1994, molluscan shellfish accounted for 64% (n = 204) of all food-borne outbreaks in which the etiologic agent was identified and 41% of outbreaks caused by an unknown etiologic agent (Wallace et al., 1999). 

Ongoing Research. In terms of ongoing surveillance, the California Department of Food and Agriculture reviews annually all Doctor s First Reports of Worker Injury which are required to be submitted by physicians that treat any occupationally related illness or injury. In 1977, more than 1.5 million occupational illness and injury reports were submitted from the California workforce of more than 12 million workers. Of these 1,531 cases were classified as "probably" related to pesticide exposure. 

When it comes to food safety, there are mnltiple laws and agencies that are involved. State and federal regulations may change frequently depending on the scientific discovery and advancement of food-borne illnesses. As a principal, how will you ensure that you and your staff have the latest information and npdates related to food safety ... 

Phytochemicals have been the subject of many studies evaluating their effects in relation to common chronic human illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. These studies encounter difficulties in using this information to influence the dietary patterns of consumers because in the past they have used models or experiments with animals. However, in the last decade, researchers have moved away from animal studies in favour of human cell models or human intervention studies. Scientists still need to determine the likely incidence of illness from exposure to known amounts of a given natural compound in the diet and specifically in relation to the complex matrices of whole foods. Therefore, it is inevitable that some animal studies have to be continued for toxicological studies. 

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